"I had no business being in front of him" - Lonzo Ball shares how LeBron James gave him a "Welcome to the NBA" moment

Lonzo Ball had the opportunity to play with LeBron James during his second year in the NBA. The former Los Angeles Lakers teammates spent one season together before the organization shipped out the 2017 No. 2 draft pick to trade for Anthony Davis.

In the short span of time that Ball got to be with and watch firsthand one of the greatest players of all time, he seemed to have learned a lot. He recently shared how James even gave him a "Welcome to the NBA" moment.

"I've never seen an individual do that type sh*t on a basketball court," Zo said . "Basically, Bron just dominated the whole practice once he turned it on. Going through the middle, windmilling, half-court, going baseline, tomahawk, half-court threes. We was playing the 21. He had 21, and we had 7. That was the first time that I was like, 'Damn, that's crazy. I had no business being in front of him right now.'"

Getting the business from Cardiac Kemba

The Chicago Bulls point guard clarified that the true experience where he realized he was in the Association and not in the amateur ranks anymore was when he faced Kemba Walker during his rookie year. Ball referred to it as "Bad News Bears" for him, as he had to defend one of the quickest and shiftiest players of the time.

A look at his game logs shows that the UCLA product faced off against Walker for the first time in his 25th game ever in the NBA. The Lakers won that contest, although the former Charlotte Hornets star finished with 23 points to outscore Ball 18.

The following season, though, Zo got another "Welcome to the NBA" moment when he realized how intense James could be in practices.

Related: "The MVP is gonna be a Nike player" - Gilbert Arenas says Nike is the reason why Anthony Edwards won't be the 'Go-To' guy for Team USA

Learning from a high-IQ guy

Ball has been vocal about his admiration for the future Hall of Famer, describing him as having one of the smartest basketball minds in the sport. And a massive reason James is one of the best to ever pick up a ball is that his impressive IQ is complemented by his unparalleled physique and skills.

Unfortunately, not even a player of Bron's caliber has been able to lift Los Angeles to title contention during some seasons. One such campaign was 2018-19, although getting ravaged by injuries likely contributed to the team's 37-45 record. It's worth noting that the Lakers began that regular season 20-14 before James started getting bitten by the injury bug, which also hit Ball a bit later.

While not all of Zo's memories with the Lakers may be pleasant with all the losing and watching their games in street clothes, at least he had the privilege of witnessing LeBron's greatness within close range.

Related: Lonzo Ball recalls being traded by the Lakers: "To be fair, I would've traded myself for Anthony Davis"